Medical News

RSS

Former President Clinton, U.N. advisor Douste-Blazy announce voluntary airline ticket donation

Former President Clinton has joined efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from travelers purchasing electronic airline tickets, the New York Times reports.

22 May 2009

Protein discovery provides new targets for drugs that could extend the healthy years of life

A protein that plays a key role in tumor formation, oxygen metabolism and inflammation is involved in a pathway that extends lifespan by dietary restriction.

22 May 2009

African-American women breast cancer sufferers often refuse chemotherapy and radiation therapy

A new study finds that nearly one in four African American women with late stage breast cancer refused chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially life saving therapies.

22 May 2009

Treatment and survival outcomes in young men diagnosed with prostate cancer

While young men with prostate cancer have a low risk of dying early, those with advanced forms of cancer do not live as long as older men with similar forms of the disease. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the July 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

22 May 2009

Tuberculosis can evade immune response

Current research suggests that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can evade the immune response. The related report by Rahman et al, "Compartmentalization of immune responses in human tuberculosis: few CD8+ effector T cells but elevated levels of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in the granulomatous lesions," appears in the June 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 May 2009

Research suggests role of low vitamin D in cancer

In studying the preventive effects of vitamin D, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have proposed a new model of cancer development that hinges on a loss of cancer cells' ability to stick together. The model, dubbed DINOMIT, differs substantially from the current model of cancer development, which suggests genetic mutations as the earliest driving forces behind cancer.

22 May 2009

Getting more from whole-transcript microarrays

The widely-used Affymetrix Whole-Transcript Gene 1.0 ST (sense target) microarray platform, normally used to assay gene expression, can also be utilized to interrogate exon-specific splicing. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Bioinformatics shows scientists how to monitor alternative splicing activity on a genome-wide scale, without investing in new exon microarray technologies.

22 May 2009

MRI analysis software helps identify early Alzheimer’s disease

Analyzing MRI studies of the brain with software developed at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) may allow diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and of mild cognitive impairment, a lesser form of dementia that precedes the development of Alzheimer's by several years.

21 May 2009

Aspirin and an anti-clotting drug ‘combo’ reduces risk of dialysis access failure

For the first time, a combination of aspirin and the anti-platelet drug dipyridamole has been shown to significantly reduce blockages and extend the useful life of new artery-vein access grafts used for hemodialysis, according to a study by the Dialysis Access Consortium (DAC).

21 May 2009

Novel method stimulates growth of new neurons in adult brain

University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons.

21 May 2009

New insights into mental health problems in Pakistan

This exploratory study highlights the importance of socio-economic determinants of child mental health problems and points out the necessity of planning and establishing service networks to meet children's mental health needs in Pakistan.

21 May 2009

Study offers new insights into morphine-induced tolerance and increased pain sensitivity

A study published in the June issue of Anesthesiology has shown that a drug metabolite of the opioid morphine may be a key factor in the paradoxical increased sensitivity to pain caused by chronic morphine use. For the first time, this metabolite (called morphine-6 glucuronide, or M6G) was shown to act independently of the pain receptors typically targeted during morphine administration.

21 May 2009

Toddler’s mysterious meningitis trumps cancer threat

Brooklynn Spencer's mother Samantha knew something wasn't right. The 8 month old had the flu recently, but it had been four weeks. She should have been better. The Elmira mother of four pushed for blood tests in early October 2007. A few hours later, there was a knock at the door.

21 May 2009

ChemGenex’s Omacetaxine to be showcased in three oral oresentations at EHA

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that new data from two clinical studies and one pre-clinical study with omacetaxine will be presented at oral sessions during the forthcoming 14th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Berlin, Germany.

21 May 2009

Study finds sleep apnea widely undiagnosed among obese type 2 diabetics

Sleep apnea has long been known to be associated with obesity. But a new study published in the June issue of Diabetes Care finds that the disorder is widely undiagnosed among obese individuals with type 2 diabetes - nearly 87 percent of participants reported symptoms, but were never diagnosed.

21 May 2009

Telemedicine may improve care for school children with diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is the most common chronic childhood disease. The management of this serious medical condition includes regular fingerstick glucose measurements, multiple daily injections of insulin, and frequent insulin dose adjustments. Because children spend a great deal of their time in school, school nurses often supervise medical decisions and diabetes care.

21 May 2009

Money worries make women spend more

At times of crisis women are more inclined to spend themselves out of misery than at stable times, a new survey suggests. Psychologists say that the recession could force more women to overspend or increase their risk of mental illness.

20 May 2009

New insights into a new strain of chlamydia

New sequencing and analysis of six strains Chlamydia will result in improved diagnosis of the sexually transmitted infection. This study provides remarkable insights into a new strain of Chlamydia that was identified in Sweden in 2006 after spreading rapidly across the country by evading most established diagnostic tests.

20 May 2009

Vitamin D found in fish improves cognitive function

Eating fish - long considered 'brain food' - may really be good for the old grey matter, as is a healthy dose of sunshine, new research suggests.

From The University of Manchester 20 May 2009

A new slow-release hydrogen sulfide donating molecule may hold the key to the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter have synthesized a new molecule which releases hydrogen sulfide (H2S) - the gas that gives rotten eggs their characteristic smell and which has recently been found to be produced naturally in the body - and discovered that it could in time lead to a range of new, safer and effective anti-inflammatory drugs for human use.

20 May 2009